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Michael Lasquero | ScoringLiveDecember 9, 2023, 7:55am
Fri, Dec 8, 2023 @ Iolani
ALA WAI — Defending state champion Punahou looked the part in its league opener Friday afternoon.
Senior forward Anuhea "Sachie" Ilae had a hand in all of the Buffanblu's goals as Punahou blanked host Iolani, 3-0, at Eddie Hamada Track and Field at Kozuki Stadium.
It was the third straight shutout by the Buffanblu (1-0) against the Raiders in ILH play. The last time Punahou allowed a goal to Iolani (0-2) was on Feb. 7, 2022.
The reigning state champions were also coming off an impeccable preseason trip last week when they traveled to Newport Beach, Calif. to play in the Back Bay Invitational where they went 4-0 with four shutouts, outscoring their opponents 14-0.
"It feels good," said Ilae. "We just came back from our mainland tournament where we dominated. It's really good that we were able to continue it here."
Ilae touched the ball on all three goals by the Buffanblu on Friday. She assisted on the first goal in the 12th minute, scored her own in the 46th minute and had the hockey assist on the final goal of the match in the 76th minute.
"She's just getting started," Punahou coach Shelly Izuno said of Ilae. "She has an impeccable touch on the ball. She's actually had that for a long time so it's nice to see it come out in these big games. She had a fantastic preseason, I think she had six goals on our travel."
The first goal of the match came after Ilae received a long, high-arching pass up the left flank. After beating her defender, the senior forward fired a sharp cross that cut inside of the goal line and was misplayed by the Iolani keeper. Coming in to finish the play from point-blank range was right-back Elana "Lala" Kawai for the go-ahead score.
"For a defender she has a nose for the goal," Izuno said of Kawai. "She's hungry and she's aggressive. She was there and cleaned it up."
Both teams looked sluggish for the final 20 minutes of the first half, but the Buffanblu came out with a vigor after intermission. They kept possession for most of the opening minutes of the second half and found the back of the net with some nifty ball-handling by Ilae.
From her left wing position, Ilae was able to dribble the ball into the goal area before doing a right-to-left crossover to set up her shot into the back post area of the net.
"Honestly I was just aiming for the goal wherever it was open," said Ilae. "I'm just glad we were able to score in the first 10 minutes of the half because that was our goal."
The Punahou sideline certainly was pleased that the team reached its goal of getting an early goal in the second half as they let the players know that they scored in "six minutes."
"They felt like they weren't playing to their ability, but they continued to press in the second half," said Izuno. "They looked more uniformed. They worked really hard all game and they figured out how to work to their strengths more.
"We weren't playing bad, we were just not playing to our strengths. It was just calming down and refocusing on what our strengths were and doing our jobs showing up for each other."
The Buffanblu had a few shots just wide of the goal in the middle parts of the second half, but put it together just before the end of the match on an impressive run in the 76th minute. Senior midfielder Emily Daehler was able to regain possession of the ball while Iolani was on the attack and got the ball ahead to Ilae at midfield for a one-two combination that saw Daehler received the ball immediately to get it into Iolani territory. After taking it to outside of the goal area, Daehler passed it to sophomore Maya Yoshimura in the left flank to score the final goal of the match.
"We have good connection and we're just able to find each other and we have good chemistry and Maya was able to find the back of of the net," said Ilae.
Punahou keeper Trisha Nitta got credited with the win after playing the full 80 minutes.
The Buffanblu will host PAC-5 next Tuesday in its home opener while Iolani will try to get its first win of the regular season when it hosts Mid-Pacific on the same day.
Punahou's original scheduled league opener against the Owls on Dec. 5 was postponed due to rain. It will be made up on Jan. 4.
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